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The Spruce Eats / Lecia Landis
Bench scrapers might be one of the least known but most adaptable kitchen tools. A bench scraper is also called a dough scraper, a dough knife, a pastry cutter, a board scraper, or a bench knife. All these tools perform the same basic tasks. They cut, chop, lift, blend, smooth, measure, and clean surfaces. In other words, if you haven’t tried one yet, you really should!
"I use bench scrapers for slicing butter then helping to 'cut' the butter into the flour in recipes like biscuits or scones," says Ashley Summers, pastry chef and winner of The Food Network's "Sweet Genius." She adds, "They're an essential tool in frosting a cake to get smooth sides and a crisp top edge. They're also the only thing I use for portioning dough. Lastly, I'll use one to remove all buildup/debris from my work surface before cleaning."
The differences between bench scrapers are for the most part unnoticeable until closely examined, simply because they’re such a basic kind of tool. So how do you choose? First, you'll want to consider how a bench scraper feels in your hand. Second, consider the size and the jobs you'll be using it for the most. Third, what is the blade like? In addition to levels of sharpness, some blades are more flexible than others.
After talking to Summers about what to look for in a bench scraper and researching popular options in a variety of styles, we rounded up the best ones for all your kitchen needs. In fact, our winner has become a staple in our tester's home kitchen for years.
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Versatile
Blade remains sharp after years of use
Sturdy
Doesn't come with a sheath
The Oxo Good Grips bench scraper is a sturdy, multi-purpose tool that sports a soft non-slip handle that fits comfortably in your hand. It's sized at 6.25 x 4 x 1.75 inches and weighs a mere 0.5 pounds. We love that the stainless steel blade slices effortlessly through dough, chops vegetables with ease, and works well for scraping baking sheets, among other tasks. Plus, it's affordable and stands up to lots of use—our tester has been using hers for years and the blade is still sharp.
The blade has measurements in 1/4-inch markings, which come in handy when dividing pastry and bread dough. It is such a versatile tool that you just might find yourself grabbing it for other tasks including spreading frosting on a cake, slicing fresh bread, leveling ingredients in measuring cups, cutting brownies, and more.
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The Spruce Eats / Abigail Abesamis Demarest
Size: 6 x 4 x 2 inches | Material: Stainless steel | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
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Exceptional quality
Great for gifting
Easy-to-read measurement markings
Requires a bit of care
If you're looking for a beautiful tool that will last for years, bench scrapers with wooden handles are a great option. Available only at Williams Sonoma, this bench scraper is sized at 6.5 x 5.25 inches with a 1-inch-diameter olivewood handle. Olivewood is a yellowish-brown hardwood valued around the world for its durability and beauty. It ages well, becoming more beautiful over time, and in some cultures has a cultural significance. The scraper blade is made of stainless steel with measurements. This model would make a great gift for the cook or baker in your life.
Size: 6.5 x 5.25 inches | Materials: Stainless steel and olivewood | Dishwasher Safe: No
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Sleek
Dishwasher safe
Affordable
No measurements on blade
From scraping stuck-on dough off your work surface to cutting it into portions to lifting it into a pie pan, bench scrapers can be a pastry chef's best friend. This is a solid, well-designed bench scraper, sized at around 6 x 3 inches, with a sharp, stainless steel blade and a plastic handle.
The Ateco Company has been in business since 1905—with a focus on making high-quality cake decorating and baking tools for both professional and home bakers—so it's definitely a brand you can trust. The scraper is dishwasher safe for easy cleanup, making it perfect for the frequent bread maker or aspiring baker.
Size: 6 x 3 inches | Materials: Stainless steel and plastic | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
"I always look for a bench scraper with a rounded plastic handle. I find that the metal curved handles have too many nooks to clean quickly and wooden handles are porous and can hold bacteria. I also look for measurements along the blade edge." — Ashley Summers, pastry chef and a season three winner on "Sweet Genius" on The Food Network
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Fantastic size
Great for production baking
Dishwasher safe
Blade too sturdy for some tasks
The Bleteleh bench scraper is both high-quality and enormous! Bleteleh is a brand made up of professional pastry chefs, bread bakers, and cooks who design innovative products for bakeries, pizzerias, restaurants, and your home kitchen. If you’re working in big batches, the commercial-style scraper makes the job much easier. Sized at 12 x 1.2 x 10 inches and with a weight of 1.3 pounds, it was designed for the professional kitchen.
The blade is made of premium high-carbon 316-grade stainless steel with one beveled edge sharpened for easy chopping. The textured polypropylene handle is ergonomic with a non-slip grip, and it's dishwasher safe. Just don’t underestimate its size—do double-check that you’ve got the kitchen space to use it!
Size: 12 x 10 inches | Materials: High-carbon stainless steel and polypropylene | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
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Flexible
Dishwasher safe
Inch-marking scale on both edges and measurement guide
Handle not ergonomically designed
This classic bench scraper has an inch-marking scale on both edges of the front of the stainless steel blade and a measuring guide on the other flat surface of the blade. In addition to being a versatile tool that can help with baking, chopping, grilling, and scraping, the Anmarko bench scraper comes in super handy with an etched-on "cheat sheet" for converting cups to tablespoons, teaspoons, ounces, and millimeters. Sized at 4.45 x 6.3 x 1.97 inches, with a weight of 7.1 ounces, it’s lightweight but sturdy and is dishwasher safe with a non-slip handle.
Size: 6.3 inches x 4.45 inches | Materials: Stainless steel and plastic | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
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Affordable
Easy to find in drawer because of color
Plastic blade not as easy to use as steel for some tasks
This simple yet effective rectangular bench scraper is useful for dough work, lifting cut foods, light cutting, mixing, and blending. It's ergonomic and sized at 5.3 x 3.4 x 0.4 inches with a weight of 1.44 ounces. The plastic is not flexible, but rather sturdy, so it's not ideal for scraping bowls. Remco is a company that specializes in products that are color-coded and made from FDA-compliant materials so it's safe and will add a pop of color to your kitchen.
Size: 5.3 inches x 3.4 inches | Materials: Polypropylene | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
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Amazon
Ergonomic design
Comes in multiple colors
Measurement guide
Doesn’t work as well lifting doughs as some rectangular blades
Designed in a half-circle shape, the XoYoZo bench scraper is ideal for scraping ingredients out of a bowl. Its rubber, rounded, no-slip handle won't cause hand and wrist fatigue so you can reach for it again and again (and reviewers mention it's good for people with arthritis). It features a stainless steel blade with markings for measurements and equivalents. Adaptable for many uses, it's sized at 6.4 x 4.6 x 0.6 inches and weighs 5.6 ounces. It's available in green, red, yellow, and black and is dishwasher safe.
Size: 6.4 inches by 4.6 inches | Materials: Stainless steel and rubber | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
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Versatile
Stores easily
Good value
Lacks the feel and finesse of some other bench scrapers
This is a handy little set that pretty much does it all. There are three pieces that fit together to fit in a drawer easily: one 6-inch metal scraper with a straight edge, one orange plastic scraper with a straight edge, and one red plastic scraper with a rounded edge, so you can cut, lift, scrape, and turn a good variety of foods.
Size: 6 inches x 3.5 inches | Materials: Stainless steel and plastic | Dishwasher Safe: Yes
The Oxo Bench Scraper is an all-around good choice at an affordable price—it's one we've used for years. For a fine-quality tool that you’ll want to keep forever, the Williams Sonoma Olivewood Bench Scraper is a beautiful option and would also make a much-appreciated gift!
What to Look for in a Bench Scraper
Materials
Bench scrapers are made with blades of stainless steel or of different types of plastic, and each material performs somewhat differently, so be sure to choose the type of blade that works best with your specific tasks. They can have handles made of wood, stainless steel, or different types of plastic—or even no handle at all—so check this to be sure to find the handle type you prefer.
Construction
Bench scrapers can be made of two pieces—a blade and a handle—or in one piece of one material. If it’s constructed of two pieces, it’s important to be sure the handle and blade are well secured.
Blade
The blade can be straight or beveled, sharpened or not. Choose the type of blade for the type of intended work.
The handle can be stainless steel, plastic, or wood—and additionally can be designed to be ergonomically comfortable or not.
Measurement Markings
Many bench scrapers have measurement markings along the blade to use while cutting dough. If this is important to you, always check to see whether a bench scraper has them or not and if they seem easy to read.
What do you want to use it for? Plan ahead so you can choose the best bench scraper for the job.
Some bench scrapers are not dishwasher safe and can be damaged if put through a dishwasher cycle. Always check to be sure you know if it’s safe or not!
FAQs
Why is it called a bench scraper?
One of the most practical uses of this tool is to scrape up bits of dough that are stuck to the work surface. It is also called a dough scraper, a dough knife, a pastry cutter, a board scraper, or a bench knife. All these tools perform the same basic tasks.
What is a bench scraper used for?
A bench scraper is most often used to manipulate dough or pastry. It can scrape, cut, measure, lift, turn, chop, and smooth.
How do you sharpen a bench scraper?
For the most part, bench scrapers are not sharpened because the ways in which they’re used don’t require them to have a very sharp blade, but if you have a very old very good quality bench scraper with a damaged blade the best thing to do is to take it to a professional knife sharpening service.
Why Trust The Spruce Eats?
Karen Resta is a writer specializing in food culture and history, cooking, pastries, and restaurants. She's also a former pastry chef and has traveled to Budapest, Kyiv, and Paris during their Fashion Weeks as a photographer and writer, always finding the best authentic pastries along the way. She believes that bench scrapers are one of the most satisfying tools to use in the kitchen and she now spends a lot of her free time baking at home and recommends quality within your given budget. Having the right tools available and knowing how to use them well (it can take practice, like anything else) makes all the difference, and she curated this list with that in mind.
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